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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §30.1.74.pr

Transfer of Legacies to Substitutes and Testator Intent

Passage 4670 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses the imperial rescript stating that legacies imposed on an instituted heir are also repeated for a substitute, arguing with concrete examples that this applies only when the testator's intention is obscure, and not when a contrary intention is evident.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto disputationum. ] §30.1.74.prLicet imperator noster cum patre rescripserit uideri uoluntate testatoris repetita a substituto, quae ab instituto fuerant relicta, tamen hoc ita erit accipiendum, si non fuit euidens diuersa uoluntas: quae ex multis colligetur, an quis ab herede legatum uel fideicommissum relictum noluerit a substituto deberi.
[ULPIAN, Book 4 of Disputes.] Although our Emperor with his father has issued a rescript to the effect that what had been left by the instituted heir is deemed to have been repeated from the substituted heir by the will of the testator, yet this must be understood in such a way only if a contrary intention was not obvious: which intention, whether someone did not wish a legacy or a trust left by the heir to be owed by the substitute, will be inferred from many circumstances.
quid enim si aliam rem reliquit a substituto ei fideicommissario uel legatario, quam ab instituto non reliquerat? uel quid si certa causa fuit, cur ab instituto relinqueret, quae in substituto cessaret? uel quid si substituit ex parte fideicommissarium, cui ab instituto reliquerat fideicommissum? in obscura igitur uoluntate locum habere rescriptum dicendum est.
For what if he left another thing from the substitute to that beneficiary of a trust or legatee, which he had not left from the instituted heir? Or what if there was a specific reason why he left it from the instituted heir, which reason would cease in the case of the substitute? Or what if he substituted, for a part, the beneficiary of a trust to whom he had left a trust from the instituted heir? Therefore, it must be said that the rescript has application in the case of an obscure intention.

Notes

  1. 30.1.74.prLicet... rescripserit — The conjunction `licet` introduces a concessive clause and takes the subjunctive (here perfect `rescripserit`), meaning "although...".
  2. 30.1.74.pruideri... repetita — `repetita [esse]` is used as the complement of the infinitive `uideri` ("to seem/be deemed"). The neuter plural relative pronoun `quae` ("the things which...") acts as its substantial subject and agrees with `repetita`.
  3. 30.1.74.prquae ex multis colligetur — The relative pronoun `quae` (feminine singular) is a relative connection (connecting relative) referring back to `diuersa uoluntas` ("contrary intention") in the preceding sentence.
  4. 30.1.74.prquae in substituto cessaret — The antecedent of the relative pronoun `quae` is `certa causa` ("specific reason"). The verb in the relative clause `cessaret` is in the subjunctive imperfect to denote a hypothetical or characteristic scenario (a reason that would cease to exist in the case of the substitute).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §30.1.74.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:30.1.74.pr

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